Delegate Bordallo Requests Briefing On Use Of Agent Orange On Guam

HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Daily News, Jan. 6, 2017) – Guam Del. Madeleine Bordallo has requested a briefing from the military, detailing the handling of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange at Andersen Air Force Base during the 1960s and 1970s.

In a letter addressed to Maj. Gen. Steven Basham, director of the Air Force Legislative Liaison, Bordallo wrote that, in light of “a deeply disturbing report alleging the sanctioned use of Agent Orange” at the base, “it is unclear the extent to which individuals at AAFB, or elsewhere on the island, could have come into contact with the herbicide.”

Bordallo’s letter came one day after 68-year-old Air Force veteran Leroy Foster, currently a resident of Florida, publicly claimed to have personally sprayed thousands of gallons of Agent Orange at Andersen Air Force Base while stationed there in the '60s and '70s.

Bordallo is requesting that the briefing include details on the handling, “transshipment, storage, or any other means of potential contact for Airmen and civilians on base.” She also asked to be briefed on additional reports of the use of the chemical on Guam.

“This report is particularly concerning to me, and the personnel stationed at AAFB, their families, as well as the people of the U.S. territory of Guam deserve to understand fully the circumstances under which this proven dangerous carcinogen was handled.”

A congressional investigation into the use of Agent Orange on Guam has been discussed before.

Speaker Benjamin Cruz said an Oct. 13, 2005 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans upheld an unidentified Air Force veteran’s claim that Agent Orange exposure while stationed at Andersen Air Force Base from Dec. 1966 to Oct. 1968 caused him to develop diabetes mellitus.

This was one of the first rulings of its kind. While Vietnam veterans received a blanket acknowledgement of exposure to Agent Orange, those who claim exposure while on Guam must provide proof of dates and locations of exposure.

However, Agent Orange's use on Guam has never been officially verified. Therefore, even if veterans can provide dates and locations, they still may be denied benefits on the basis that they cannot prove Agent Orange was present on Guam.

The decision, Cruz said, appears to set a precedent of acknowledgement. If one veteran could receive benefits on the basis of exposure to Agent Orange on Guam, he believed the floodgates would open.

“I do remember receiving and reading the Sullivan decision, and thinking that would be it,” Cruz said. “I thought that would be the precedent for everybody moving forward.”

Cruz said that, after reading the decision, he wrote to Bordallo asking her to undertake a congressional investigation.

He said he lost track of what happened with the request and believed it was being handled until reading about the latest development in the Pacific Daily News.

“I assumed that veterans who served on Guam were getting coverage,” Cruz said. “It wasn’t until I saw yesterday’s article that I realized veterans were still being denied.”

Bordallo’s office did not immediately respond for comment on the status of previous requests for an investigation into Agent Orange use on Guam.

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